Academy of St Martin in the Fields

The first CD recording by the then 18-year-old Joshua Bell dates back 40 years. Listen to it: Max Bruch's violin concerto with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. He is now the musical director of the famous ensemble as successor to the legendary Neville Marriner and has interpreted the work together countless times — always without a conductor!

After the break, Johannes Brahms's Symphony No. 2, which he wrote during the apparently very inspiring summer retreat on Lake Wörthersee: The melodies, as the composer noted, fly there in such a way that you have to be careful not to “kick any.” So he wrote his second symphony unusually quickly and felt cheerful and comfortable in this summer of 1877. This pastoral atmosphere is easy to listen to in the work.

Program: Max Bruch: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G minor op. 26; Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major op. 73